October - November 2018 (Issue 120)

Yellow Tie Hospitality, India’s leading restaurant franchise management company has launched the Lebanese food brand ‘Just Falafel’ in India. The first outlet has opened at Hanuman Mandir, Pushkar, Rajasthan.

Just Falafel is a quick service restaurant format serving authentic Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine. With the growing trend of customers wanting healthy food options, Yellow Tie Hospitality plans to launch 100 Just Falafel restaurants across India by 2024.

Franchise owner, Mouni Kalra said, “We are very delighted to bring this authentic Lebanese food brand to the Indian market. Our menu ranges from wide range of wraps, bowls, shawarma extended to mouthwatering desserts and beverages. The food industry in India has been booming in the recent times, owing to the rising disposable income of the middle class, rising young population and tourism especially in a city like Pushkar.” This sector is already the largest retail consumption category in India.

Chetan Kambli, brand head of Just Falafel added, “Indian consumer focus is shifting and they’re becoming more susceptible to try new cuisines. There are no big prominent players in the Lebanese food space in India and we aim to fill that gap. India’s tier-2 and 3 cities have immense potential as these cities have big pocket customers with lesser avenues to spend. This is the reason we decided to open our first restaurant in Pushkar, as it has high footfalls of tourists visiting from different parts of the world and Just Falafel will provide them the organized international restaurant concept serving healthy and delicious food.”

Karan Tanna, founder and CEO of Yellow Tie Hospitality said, “We are extremely excited about Just Falafel and we feel that Just Falafel can be ‘the’ destination for Lebanese food. Just Falafel has done fantastic among the local population of Dubai and we can’t wait to grow it in India. We are planning to invest 5 million USD in the next 3 year with 50 stores at PAN India level across malls and corporate parks in the next 2 years and 100 stores in 5 years with focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities.”